Microsoft raised a few eyebrows when it first announced that its Xbox One console would cost $499, a Benjamin more than Sony's PlayStation 4. Thus began the chatter on whether or not gamers would be willing to pay a premium for the Xbox One and, at the time, its mandatory Kinect bundle. Turns out they were, though sales haven't kept pace with the PS4, at least not up until this point. Since removing the Kinect sensor from the equation and dropping the price to $399, however, Microsoft says sales are booming.

The Redmond outfit also credits the surge in console sales to its holiday game lineup, though let's be real, the lower price is probably the main reason why gamers are suddenly flocking to the Xbox One.

"Over the past month, we’ve seen a strong spike in interest in our Xbox One console options, including the new $399 offering, and the amazing lineup of games announced during E3. Since the new Xbox One offering launched on June 9th, we’ve seen sales of Xbox One more than double in the US, compared to sales in May, and solid growth in Xbox 360 sales," Microsoft said.

A doubling of sales is nothing to scoff at, and it especially bodes well for Microsoft if it can maintain the momentum as we head into the holiday shopping season. In the meantime, it's high time for another update from both companies -- at last count, Sony said it sold more than 7 million PS4 units up through April 6. More recently, it's been reported that Sony's PS4 sales have topped 9 million units versus Microsoft's 5 million Xbox One sales.